Health care expert Trudy Lieberman says there is a “hitch” in the House health care bill that permits insurance companies to charge seniors up to “two times more” for a policy than people in their 30’s. (0:17)
Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio) says the people who need to be concerned with the proposed health care reform bills are senior citizens since costs will be covered by making cuts to Medicare. Additionally, Latta says if Medicare funds can be paid for by waste fraud and abuse, the people currently in charge of waste fraud and abuse should lose their jobs.
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Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) talks about how an accurate consumer product index needs to be implemented to reflect the spending habits of senior citizens in order to fairly adjust social security policy. (0:18)
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) discusses seniors’ spending habits at a conference on Capitol Hill held in order to garner support for a bill that would give seniors a one-time payment of $250 in 2010. (0:29)
President Barack Obama announced an agreement between the administration and pharmaceutical companies Monday to lower the cost of medication for Medicare recipients.
The agreement seeks to eliminate the so-called “doughnut hole”, in which Medicare only covers prescription drug costs up to $2,700 annually and again when drug costs exceed $6,154 a year, but not the costs landing between the two benchmarks.
Through the agreement, pharmaceutical companies will provide $80 billion to lower the costs of medication for Medicare recipients over the next ten years.
“Drug and insurance companies stand to benefit when tens of millions more Americans have coverage. So we’re asking them, in exchange, to make essential concessions to reform the system and help reform costs,” said Obama. “It’s only fair.”
This morning there was a full committee hearing on Medicare improvements titled “Seniors at Risk: Improving Medicare for Our Most Vulnerable,” focusing on Medicare Part D’s Low Income Subsidy. Ranking Member Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) and others were on hand to hear testimony. (more…)
